On Wed, 26 Jan 2000, Dan Williams wrote: > I've been looking at Bike FRIDAY's Tandems. How stable and reliable are > they? I guess I'm concerned about frame strength and rigidity and whether > they will hold together for a trip up the coast of Oz (couple of thousand > miles).

The frame is pretty rigid. While it is really short compared to most tandems it is made with really oversized steel, and that increases the stiffness of the tubes by quite a lot. Our Tandem Two'sday isn't as stiff as our Cannondale, but it does handle well and even works pretty well fully loaded. Stiff racks help in that case.

It is my understanding that the frames are quite strong. They certainly have been ridden long distances without frame failures. >From talking to those who have worked at or with Bike FRIDAY it sounds like they personally punish the frames a lot before considering selling anything to the public.

The bike has been reliable for me, but I haven't owned it for a long time (bought it used in October). I can better comment on reliability after we return from our trip with it.

The best thing is really to contact Green Gear and ask them to locate an owner in your area who will let you take a close look at the bike and test ride it.

alex